SVP, Chief Credit Officer

Job Description

Job Description

The Senior Vice President, Chief Credit Officer (CCO) is responsible for overseeing all credit and portfolio risk management functions for LIIF’s national lending platform. Reporting to the President, the CCO serves as a key strategic leader responsible for maintaining a high-quality loan portfolio, minimizing credit losses, and ensuring sound credit risk management, all in support of LIIF's mission to advance equitable community development. The CCO will oversee credit policy, underwriting standards, portfolio risk management, and asset management functions while serving as a strategic partner to lending, impact, finance, and executive leadership teams. The successful candidate will balance prudent credit risk management with LIIF's commitment to expanding access to capital and achieving meaningful community impact.

In addition to leading credit functions, the CCO will help advance LIIF's Impact, Risk & Profitability (IRP) framework, ensuring that credit and portfolio management decisions appropriately reflect organizational priorities around equity, impact, sustainability, and financial performance. The CCO will work in close partnership with the Chief Lending Officer to ensure an appropriate balance between prudent loan growth and strong portfolio performance, serving as the executive responsible for maintaining portfolio quality and managing credit risk.

The CCO and Chief Lending Officer will jointly staff the Board Lending Risk Committee and responsible for partnering with the Lending Risk Committee Chair and President to develop and review the Lending Risk Committee agendas, materials, and recommendations. The Chief Credit Officer also partners with the President to prepare agendas and materials for the Internal Loan Committee.

The incoming Chief Credit Officer will join LIIF at a moment of significant transition and opportunity. The organization is simultaneously evolving its credit and portfolio leadership team (with this hire), modernizing its credit infrastructure, strengthening governance processes, and advancing a more integrated approach to impact-led lending. The successful candidate will serve as an enterprise leader who can balance mission, impact, profitability, and prudent risk management while helping LIIF navigate its next phase of organizational growth as well as the credit leadership transition.

This position reports to the President and leads a team of 8 to 10 across Credit, and Asset Management.

Key Responsibilities:

Credit Policy & Loan Approval

Oversee credit review and approval of all loan transactions in accordance with LIIF’s Loan and Asset Concentration Policy and delegated credit authority.

Support the management of credit and lending related policies in consultation with the LRC Chair, the CEO and President.

Work closely with the Chief Lending Officer and President to manage the Internal Loan Committee and Lending Risk Committee.

Provide an external perspective on emerging market, economic, regulatory, and industry trends that could impact loan originations and portfolio performance, proactively advising executive leadership and the Lending Risk Committee on potential risks and recommending strategies to mitigate exposure. Advise staff on transaction structuring and credit risk mitigation.

Ensure alignment between credit decisions and the organization’s mission and risk tolerance.

Foster a committee-based decision-making culture that encourages thoughtful dialogue, diverse perspectives, and disciplined credit judgment.

Drive continuous improvement of the credit function by strengthening credit processes and operations to enhance efficiency, consistency, and quality, ensuring the credit function supports LIIF's lending objectives while maintaining rigorous underwriting standards and prudent risk oversight.

Portfolio Risk Management and Credit Performance

Maintain accountability for the quality and long-term performance of LIIF's loan portfolio through disciplined credit risk management, partnering with lending leadership to support mission-driven lending within an appropriate risk framework.

Lead risk monitoring efforts through management of the Asset Management team.

Oversee portfolio performance to minimize credit losses and ensure the adequacy of Loan Loss Reserves through ongoing portfolio monitoring, risk assessment, and reserve methodologies.

Ensure implementation of portfolio risk rating systems and Loan Loss Reserves.

Proactively identify troubled loans and oversee workouts, restructurings, and resolution strategies to minimize losses and protect LIIF's financial position.

Lead monthly Credit Committee meetings reviewing segments of the portfolio.

Manage credit, reputational, and other portfolio-related risks, escalating emerging issues and recommending appropriate mitigation strategies to executive leadership and the Lending Risk Committee.

Leadership & Talent Development

Lead, coach, and develop the Credit Officer and Director of Asset Management, fostering a high-performing team and a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Build and strengthen LIIF's credit capabilities by developing credit talent, providing coaching and mentorship, and overseeing ongoing training and professional development for the credit function.

Partner with the Chief Lending Officer to design and deliver credit and underwriting training for lending staff, ensuring consistent application of credit policies, sound underwriting practices, and disciplined risk management across the organization.

Establish and champion underwriting best practices, promoting consistency, quality, and excellence in credit analysis, loan structuring, and portfolio management.

Reporting & Analytics

Lead the development of credit-related reporting for the Board and executive team.

Coordinate reporting to S&P, AERIS, OFN, funders, and other external stakeholders.

Support transparency in performance metrics and risk disclosures.

Utilize portfolio analytics and impact data to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement across the lending portfolio.

Capital Reserves & Risk Modeling

Collaborate with the CFO to manage financial reserves under CECL and ALLL frameworks.

Lead efforts to build and implement enhanced risk rating models and stress testing.

Partner with executive leadership to ensure portfolio management strategies support LIIF's long-term financial sustainability and capital stewardship objectives.

Policy & Product Innovation

Maintain and update LIIF’s Lending Manual.

Collaborate on product design and implementation to address market needs.

Support development of the Impact, Risk, and Profitability (IRP) framework.

Help strengthen governance structures, approval processes, and credit policies to support organizational effectiveness and consistency.

Equity in Lending

Work with the Equity Working Group to identify and eliminate bias in lending policies and practices while maintaining strong credit risk management practices

Partner with lending, impact, and program teams to ensure equity considerations are thoughtfully incorporated into lending discussions and decision-making processes.

The ideal candidate is an accomplished credit leader who combines deep technical expertise with a genuine passion for community development and equitable outcomes.

They bring exceptional judgment, strong listening skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships while exercising the independence, courage, and conviction to make difficult credit decisions that protect LIIF's portfolio and long-term financial strength. They understand that successful community development finance requires balancing mission, impact, profitability, and risk, and they are energized by the opportunity to lead through complexity and change.

Most importantly, they are motivated by the opportunity to contribute to LIIF's long-term success and leave a lasting mark on one of the nation's most respected CDFIs.

Professional Experience:

At least 15 years of experience in affordable housing finance, credit risk management, commercial lending, or community development finance or related fields.

Demonstrated success in managing credit operations in mission-driven or regulated financial institutions.

Experience building and developing high-performing teams. and leading through change and complexity.

Experience balancing mission-driven objectives with disciplined portfolio management and credit risk practices.

Strong familiarity with CDFI lending, nonprofit financials, and affordable housing or facilities finance (both preferred)

Proven ability to collaborate across departments and influence senior leadership.

A deep understanding of community development-oriented finance, particularly real estate-based lending, including complex deal structuring, risk assessment, and risk mitigation strategies.

Expertise in analyzing financials of nonprofit organizations and real estate operations, particularly related to rental housing, special needs housing, and community facilities.

Familiarity with federal, state, and local government capital funding sources, CDFI Fund programs, New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), and other relevant sources.

Experience working across multiple geographic markets and national portfolios with a focus on delivering impact at scale.

Leadership Characteristics:

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

Exceptional listening and relationship-building skills.

A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, complemented by the independence and sound judgment to make difficult, and at times unpopular, decisions that protect portfolio quality and manage risk.

A commitment to developing talent, mentoring and fostering a culture of accountability and collaboration.

Strong strategic and analytical capabilities.

The ability to influence across functions and levels of an organization.

Sound judgment and thoughtful decision-making.

Organizational agility and change-management experience.

A deep commitment to racial equity and impact in community and financial systems

Professional maturity, humility, and resilience.

Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence key stakeholders and maintain relationships with internal and external partners.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree required in Real Estate, Urban Planning, Nonprofit Management, Business Administration, or Finance.

MBA or advanced degree in Finance, Urban Planning, or a related field preferred.

Location:

LIIF New York City office preferred; open to Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C.

LIIF offers a hybrid work environment with flexibility to balance in-office and remote work. However, all employees are expected to work on-site at least two (2) days per week.

The successful candidate will be expected to travel for meetings with borrowers and the lending community at large, annual visits with staff at other locations, as well as Company sponsored events